


Knowing the Full Picture

by katikat



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Episode Related, Friendship, Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 19:29:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13642962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katikat/pseuds/katikat
Summary: Sometimes you regret the things you say in the heat of the moment. Or, seven years later, Jack apologizes. A missing scene from ep 106, based on the flashbacks in ep 212. Mac’s POV. (Unbeta'd)





	Knowing the Full Picture

Seated in one of the comfortable leather seats in the Phoenix Foundation's jet, waiting for takeoff, Mac’s staring out of the window at the sunlit runway without really seeing it. He’s lost in his thoughts. Thoughts of Peña, of his time back in Afghanistan…

Of  _The Ghost_. Who escaped again. Mac can’t help but feel he’s failed his EOD mentor yet again. This time, he should’ve gotten that crazy bomb maker. He-he should’ve been faster, smarter…  _something._  But he wasn’t. And he failed.

“Hey,” Jack says softly, tapping Mac on the knee as he leans forward in his seat. He’s seated in front of Mac, facing him, while Riley and Thornton are in the back, talking quietly.

Mac straightens up from his slouched position and clears his throat. “Yeah?” he replies, his voice a little hoarse. He tries to pretend it’s nothing.

Jack isn’t buying it, of course. He’s watching Mac with concern, brows furrowed. “You okay there?” he asks. His elbows are propped on his knees and his head is ducked a little to look Mac better in the eye.

Taking a deep breath, Mac rubs his palms against his jean-clad thighs. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Glad we’re going home.  _Tired_. It was a rough day.”

Jack nods and stares at Mac a little longer, then he says, “I’m sorry that he got away, The Ghost. I’m sorry that you had to save my sorry ass again instead of catching that psycho.”

“No,  _no_ , Jack,” Mac responds, shaking his head and frowning. “There’s no need to apologize, really. None of it was your fault. If it hadn’t been you, someone else would’ve stumbled into that trap. And  _they_ might’ve not realized what was going on. The bomb would’ve gone off and killed a lot of people if you hadn’t found it.”

Grimacing a little, Jack drawls sarcastically, “Yeah, well, if by ‘found it’ you mean ‘stepped right on top of it,’ then yeah, sure, I  _did_ find it.” He smiles wryly. 

Mac’s smile is fleeting. It’s hard to find it funny when pictures of Peña’s death are still so painfully fresh and raw in his memory. Jack could’ve ended up the same way, blown to pieces. He shudders a little inwardly.

“Anyway, I wanted to thank you,” Jack continues, “for saving my life.  _Again_.”

“Jack,” Mac replies, “it wasn’t anything you haven’t done for me a thousand times over in some other way. That’s what we do, we have each other’s back. But you’re welcome.  _Always_.”

Jack nods and one corner of his mouth quirks up a little before he sobers again. He drops his eyes for a moment, staring down at his clasped hands, and when he looks up again, he says quietly, “And I wanted to apologize, too.”

Mac frowns a little, thrown. He doesn’t understand.

Taking in a deep breath, Jack releases it slowly. “Back in the sandbox, when we first met… I brought up your CO, Peña. I-I made it sound like his death was your fault. I only just remembered, after you told me about how he’d actually died.”

Mac blinks in surprise. He completely forgot about that. “Jack–”

But his friend silences him with a raised hand. “No, let me finish, please. I shouldn’t have done that. I should’ve never brought it up. It was nasty of me and–”

Now it’s Mac’s turn to interrupt him, leaning forward, too, “Jack, you didn’t know me back then. And you couldn’t have known what happened to Peña. I didn’t know what  _exactly_ happened to him until today.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Jack insists, his voice full of self-recrimination. “Look, I’ve had my share of blame thrown at me, by people who thought they knew better, who thought they knew what actually happened out there, in the field, exactly whose fault it was that something or other went pear shaped. But the truth was, they did not. Unless you’re right there when it happens, you’ll never truly understand, you’ll never get the full picture!”

He sighs, shaking his head. “And I forgot that for a moment. I was so angry with you that all I could think of was taking you down a peg. But that? That was a low blow. I was completely out of line. And if I hadn’t been so riled up, I would’ve realized that. So… I’m sorry, alright? Seven years too late but… I am sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

Truly touched by Jack’s words, Mac smiles at him warmly and holds up a hand. “Already forgotten, buddy.”

Gripping Mac’s hand tight, Jack smiles back, a little emotional, and nods. “And I promise you, we’ll get the bastard. He can’t run forever. We  _will_ find him and he  _will_ pay for what he did to Peña and to so many other innocent people.”

Somehow, Mac doubts it - he’s been after the bomb maker for years now, Charlie and the FBI and the CIA and God knows who else, too, and with no luck - but looking into Jack’s eyes, he wants to believe him. He wants to believe it so badly and so he just nods. Maybe together, they  _will_  do it. Maybe they  _will_ find a way.

And then the pitch of the engines changes and the jet jerks forward and starts moving, rolling across the runway, ready for takeoff. They’re going home.


End file.
